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Eating ‘Chocolate Meat’ in Middle America
Learning about dinuguan helped me feel closer to my identity as a second-generation Filipino American
My first memory of dinuguan is of being introduced to it by another name: “chocolate meat,” a euphemism used by Filipino American immigrants to coax their children into trying the mysterious, darkly colored stew.
Sitting around my grandparents’ kitchen table, my family watched expectantly as I took a meaty bite mixed with white rice. It was salty and sour and delicious.
“Where’s the chocolate?” I asked.
“No chocolate,” my Lolo chuckled. “That is pig’s blood!”
“Ewww!” I shrieked. Then I kept eating.
Blood is what gives dinuguan its intense, dark brown color. Simmered in this mineral richness is pork meat and offal, garlic, onions, finger chilis, and vinegar. Patis, a liquid made from fermented seafood, is used instead of salt. Heat is kept low to prevent the blood from clotting as it cooks. The result: a thick, velvety stew that is as savory as it is bitter.
Even though I devoured every bite, dinuguan was a challenging food for me growing up. Both sets of my grandparents moved to the United States in the 1970s. I was born and raised in the overwhelmingly…
